Managing Director of Relmac Construction Company, Ian McNally, is riding a wave of euphoria after receiving an ‘Honourable Mention’ at the 2024 Cemex Building Awards in Mexico for the construction of the Pompey Estate Residence and Studio, the San San, Portland home of Grammy-winning producer and DJ, Diplo. 

McNally’s project was recognised in the ‘Single-Family’ category, selected from 43 international entries at the event in Monterrey on Tuesday, November 19.

“This is a big deal. Seeing the global reach of Cemex, I quickly realised the scale of the awards, especially being chosen from so many of the projects. This is a big deal for Jamaica and the industry,” said McNally.

The home of the Grammy-winning celebrity Diplo, whose real name is Thomas Wesley Pentz, is located on a 50-acre property. It focuses on environmental sustainability, with solar energy and rainwater harvesting systems integrated into the foundation. The home features an architectural concrete design, where the walls are left exposed, a style popular in luxury homes in cities like Malibu, California in the United States. 

“The concrete is poured, the forms stripped, and that’s the final finish. There’s minimal paint involved, with only the ceilings occasionally painted,” McNally explained.

Reflecting on the project, McNally informed that the most challenging aspect of the project was transporting materials to the remote site in the cool hills of Portland.

“We poured about 5,000 cubic metres of concrete, and the nearest batching plant was in Kingston. It took nearly three hours to deliver the concrete with the correct slump,” McNally said. “We broke the pours into manageable amounts and used various additives to ensure the desired consistency, which was a trial-and-error process,” McNally noted further. 

Jamaica had several entries at the 2024 Cemex Building Awards, including CB Group’s ‘Nest’ production plant and the Southern Coastal Highway Improvement Project, which features the largest reinforced concrete four-lane bridge ever built in the English-speaking Caribbean.

Started in 1991, the Cemex Building Awards recognises the best construction projects in Mexico and the world. For the 2024 edition, the awards received 355 entries from a wide variety of projects from 17 different countries. The panel of judges was comprised of 10 renowned architects and engineers from Mexico, US, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia and Belgium.

Caribbean Cement Company Limited is a subsidiary of Cemex.